FREE ESSAY ON OUR TOWN

OUR TOWN

Our Town is play written a while ago, but it relates to any time. Showing that routine is
a part of everybody's life. No matter what day and age you live in your going to have a
routine. This play shows an example of two families and their daily routines. The whole
play relates to routine even the different acts.
Our Town takes place in Grover's Corner, New Hampshire around the turn of the century.
(1900's). This play uses a lot of flashbacks. There's one with George and Emily when they
first fall in love at Mr. Morgan's shop. It also uses foreshadowing. When they told of
how everyone died. Another flashback is when Joe comes back after about ten years and
they talk about the dead and everyone's lives.
George was one of my favorite characters. He's really the only one I could relate to. He
seems to be the only one that isn't caught up in the routine thing as much as the other
characters. He plays baseball and loves Emily. He is the protagonist. Emily was a round
static character too. Simon the town drunk was an antagonist, flat, and dynamic.
There were 3 acts. These three acts are all different days that are years apart. A cycle,
born, get married, and die. In Our Town Act one was the beginning of a day and the
childhood of George and Emily. Act two was in the middle of the day years later where
George and Emily get married. Finally Act three is the end of the day when Emily is dead
and goes back for her twelfth birthday. The stage directions were simple and plain so you
could use your imagination kind of like a book. The stage manager also was a character in
this play. 
The dialect throughout this play was universal. It could be used in many different areas
and/or time periods. I thought that the dialect used throughout this book was very
similar to how people around Garden City talk. "Blessed be the tie that binds" is played
a lot in Our Town. This song ties in with the theme perfectly. Showing how everything is
connected and how we miss all the small things in the world.
The staging is kept very simple. This allows you to think up what they are describing.
Which lets you use your imagination to make it look as you wish. There isn't much to the
stage as I said they keep it simple, for example: for the wedding all they have are
chairs set up in rows. The lighting is low making it easier for you to make your own
stage with your imagination. 
This play could actually have two themes. Living life to the fullest, and appreciate the
small things in life. I believe the author wrote this play to show that no matter what
the time is or where you live your going to have a routine and the cycle of life. The
theme is really developed when Rebecca is at the grave yard and goes back for her day of
life. She realizes that she never appreciated things that mattered. The value of this
play today is great because it relates to us as it will continue to do so for some time.
I believe the title Our Town is good for this play. It shows that it can be any town and
anytime. I didn't really like that play, but I did understand a little more about
appreciating 
the smaller things. I didn't like it, to me it was very boring. Doing these routines then
reading about other people doing them wasn't my idea of a good play. Other than that I
liked how the characters were set up. The only decent thing to read about in this play
was George and Emily's love story.
Over all I thought this play would probably be better for someone else. Living those
routines then reading about them was really boring. Although as a I said before I did
like the characters, and especially how it showed to appreciate the smaller things in
life and not worry about the everyday routines.